There is a silent global epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that is threatening to undermine health gains as well as prospects for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. It seems that insufficient attention is being paid to these diseases that undermine the health of adults and cause congenital abnormalities and death in infants.

Global data from WHO in 2016 shows that there were 357 million cases annually of four curable STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, trichomonas), and around 300,000 foetal and neonatal deaths from syphilis in pregnancy. This latter is more than double the number of AIDS-related deaths in children under the age of 14 years globally, which UNICEF estimates at 120,000 in 2017.